• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Blood sugar help!

wanipuk

wanipuk

BANNED
Messages
37
Location
newark nottinghamshire
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
I'm hoping sum1 can help me with a problem my sugars are always high 14-26 and if it's the higher range like 20 upwards then I tend to use about 28 novorapid insulin and at night i use about 20 units of lantus insulin at bedtime do u think I'm taking enough insulin or should I increase it of so how much more do people recommend?? Please help!
 
wanipuk said:
I'm hoping sum1 can help me with a problem my sugars are always high 14-26 and if it's the higher range like 20 upwards then I tend to use about 28 novorapid insulin and at night i use about 20 units of lantus insulin at bedtime do u think I'm taking enough insulin or should I increase it of so how much more do people recommend?? Please help!
Click to expand...

Speak to your diabetic care team is the best thing to do and see what they say is best to do as each person is different. What works for one person isn't going to work for another.

This is probably something you don't want saying but it's for the best but you probably wanted some real advice
 
No one is going to recommend how much insulin you should be taking. To do that over the Internet with no knowledge of what youre up to every day or other medical issues would be foolish and dangerous.

Can you explain your insulin regime a bit more? Are you carb counting? There is some info in a previous thread from you about how to teach youself about carb counting - http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/carbohydrate-calculating-for-insulin.108397/ - are you doing this now? Cos it reads like you might still be on set doses of novorapid?

Your on a basal bolus regime. The way that is supposed to work is by your basal insulin (your lantus) keepin your blood sugar steady through the day and night when you aren't eating anything. You can do a basal test to see if 20 units of lantus is the right dose for you. Although you say you take about 20, how much does it vary by and what does the variation depend on? Cos lantus isn't that flexible, it takes 2 or 3 days for a change of dose to settle in.

Then your bolus insulin should be used to cover meals. That's what carb counting is for, to help figure out what your insulin to carb ratio is. Bolus insulin can also be used without food to correct high blood sugar, but there needs to be a bit of understanding of what your correction factor is to do that safely.

It does sound like you need to consider more insulin, or at least a better understanding of how to use your insulin. The ideal range to aim for would really be something more like 5-7 or at least under 10, letting your blood sugar stay up in the double figures isn't doing you any favours for the long term and is probably making you feel pretty knackered and grumpy.
 
Hi @wanipuk - @catapillar has given you some very sound advice, no one here can advise on adjusting your insulin doses, although it sounds like you are on a fixed amount, so learning to carb count and adjust your insulin accordingly for food and for corrections would be hugely beneficial for you.

Do you have the support of a diabetic nurse to call on ? With any changes to your insulin you would need to speak to your healthcare team, so please call them today and I hope you get some support soon.
 
Hi @wanipuk . Good control is dependent on many different things, insulin being probably the most important. Your post seems to me that at this present time you don't fully understand the way insulin works. I suggest you have a good discussion with a DSN or someone who can give you the basics regarding the dynamics of insulin.
Good luck and let us know how things go.
 
@wanipuk It seems you're not getting the support you need from your team. You asked a similar question a few months ago:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/help.110225/

Yes, it sounds like you need more insulin but it also sounds like your whole regime needs looking at - that is, both your basal amount and your bolus (meal) amounts. You really do need to phone your DSN for help and be politely pushy.

You could also buy the book Think Like A Pancreas - it's excellent for Type 1s. Keep that book for future reference but for now call your DSN and get help and support.

If you're not carb counting, you need to be. It's crucial for good control. If you don't carb count you're 'driving with a blindfold on'.

Can you explain a little more about your meal time doses?
 
I just want to add to what everyone else have mentioned my own experience. when I was struggling with high blood sugar's on lantus , one of the things that helped was to split the lantus into two - two smaller doses, once in the morning and once at night. It helped because the hours before I was due for my next dose is the hours the insulin is winding down so doesn't work so well. This showed on my b.g. Also, I could take more and less as needed for day and night.
 
Hmm no I haven't so if I did would say 10 units of lantus in morning and 10 units of lantus at bedtime as well as my 3 usual novorapid through the day sound ideal?
 
Back
Top